The Weak Little Pharaoh
by obeytherandomness
Summary: Yugi was born weak and he has been struggling all his life to become strong. his father decides to assign him a new guard but yugi only trusts one man and he's not even in the royal guard. setoxyugi
1. Chapter 1

Egypt rejoiced when the news was heard that the new child of the pharoah would be born on this day. There were parties all over the cities. People were laughing and talking excitedly about what they thought the new child would be like. They all hoped that a strong prince would be born. He would protect them in the future. He would become their pharaoh. They all hoped that a prince would be born on this day and they were all truly very excited to see this new child.

Egypt rejoiced and there were parties all over the cities except within the palace where the pharaoh sat next to his wife as she gave birth. She had fallen ill several weeks ago and no one had been able to heal her. There was no hope that she would survive the birthing process and there was only a small hope that the child would be born alive. The pharaoh held his wife's hand quietly as she screamed from the pain. He could not cry because he was the pharaoh and yet tears were still finding their way silently down his face.

"You're almost done," said one of the ladies in waiting. "Just a bit more."

The pharaoh's wife screamed one last time as she gave the final push that allowed her child to be born. Her gasps for air were the only thing that could be heard as she reached forward to the blurry shapes of people that she could see in an attempt to touch her child. One of the ladies in waiting quickly cleaned the child and handed it to the woman. She held him close, but frowned when she realized it wasn't moving. "What's wrong with him?" she asked frantically, "Why isn't he moving?"

The ladies in waiting all rushed forward to look at the child. They had been so worried about their beautiful queen that they hadn't realized that the boy that she had just given birth to was not breathing. He had not survived the birthing process and his mother was quickly slipping away. They took the motionless child from her grip and put him on a small table near her bedside so that they could try to save her. If they could save her there was a possibility that she could give birth to another child. They tried everything they could think of, but still she kept slipping until finally her life left her and she stopped breathing.

The ladies in waiting all backed away and left the room to allow their pharaoh a chance to grieve the loss of both his wife and his child. He laid his head down on the bed next to her and allowed his tears to finally fall. Ra forgive him for this sign of weakness, but he could no longer hold back the tears. That's when a sound that he had not been expecting entered his ears. A baby's crying had filled the room. The pharaoh looked up at where the ladies had placed his child to see that it was waving its arms and legs and its mouth was open as tears spilled out of its eyes. He stood quickly and rushed over to see if what he saw was truly happening. His son, who had been born dead was now looking at him with tears in his crimson eyes. He smiled as he lifted the baby boy into his arms because even though he had lost his beloved wife he had not lost his son.

"Yugi," he said to the boy. "It's alright now. There's no need to cry. You are in daddy's arms now. I'll take care of you. You'll be fine from now on." He held the boy tightly in his arms as he walked back to his wife's side. "My love," he said quietly as he used the hand that wasn't holding Yugi to reach forward and brush the hair away from her cold, sweaty forehead. "Yugi is okay. You have nothing to worry about. You gave birth to a beautiful young prince. I will miss you and I will look for you when I join you in the afterlife." With that he left the room with his young son in his arms.

* * *

><p>"Be careful my prince," one of Yugi's caretakers said worriedly as he tripped once more and scraped his knee hard on the rough ground. He forced the tears that threatened to fall from his eyes back and stood back up. He was already five and he was still having troubles walking. His caretakers weren't helping him at all either with all of their worrying. They barely let him walk as it was. Today he had to order them to allow him to walk at least to the end of the corridor that led to his room. He hadn't even made it halfway before he tripped once more. Finally, he allowed himself to cry as he realized that he wouldn't be able to make. It wasn't fair that he couldn't even walk when so many other people his age could run and play. Why did his body have to be so weak? Why couldn't he just be a strong prince like everyone expected him to be? Why couldn't he be a healthy child? Why was he so weak?<p>

Yugi allowed one of his three caretakers to pick him up so that he could bring him back to his room where he would sit in his bed for the rest of the day just like he did every other day. As one of his caretakers tucked him into his bed he noticed another man had entered the room. "Father!" he said happily. "How are you?"

"I am fine," said the pharaoh as he ran his hand through Yugi's blonde and black hair, "but I must talk to your caretakers."

Yugi frowned as the caretakers followed him out of his room. When he could no longer see them he pulled himself out from under the covers and allowed his feet to touch the ground. He made his way over to the wall and used it to help him get to the doorway of his room where he listened to his father talk to his caretakers.

"How is he doing?" asked his father.

"He's not doing much better," said one of his caretakers.

"He's trying hard but…" another one trailed off and allowed the third one to finish his sentence.

"He's probably always going to be weak."

"Oh Ra," said the pharaoh as he buried his head in his hands with a sigh. "You have blessed me with a son and then cursed me with his illness."

Yugi felt a pain shoot through his chest. His father thought that he was a curse because he was weak. He would prove his father wrong, he decided. He would learn to walk today. He quietly made his way to the other exit that led to the outside garden. The last thing he heard his caretakers say before he was out of hearing range was, "but he is very smart. He takes in everything that we teach him easily and remembers it all."

* * *

><p>Seto walked quickly through the garden. He was a little late to practice with the royal guard. He wasn't a part of them, but they let him practice with them anyway because they knew he loved to fight with a sword. He was planning to join the royal guard when he grew old enough that he could join as he had already told the main guard. He was only seven now, but he was determined to get strong enough that he would be able to join them soon.<p>

As he walked past the prince's room he looked inside of it. He always looked inside the prince's room and he always saw the prince's shape, but he never saw the young boy's physical features. He was curious about the boy. This time when he looked in he saw nothing. No one truly knew what he looked like except for his main slaves.

Seto growled. He hated the word slave. His mother was a slave so one of the men in the palace thought it was okay to rape her. His mother died giving birth to him and it was all the man's fault. Luckily the pharaoh had found out about it and made sure that Seto didn't have too hard of a life.

He was brought out of his musings when he almost ran into a young boy sitting on the ground. "What are you doing?" he growled at the boy who had gotten in his way. He hated things that got in the way. The boy looked up at him and he was suddenly aware of the tears that were streaming down the pale boy's face. "Are you alright?" he asked.

"I can't do it," said the boy as the tears fell faster from his eyes. "I can't do it."

"You can't do what?" asked Seto.

"I can't do it," the boy said once more as he shook his head.

"Can't do what?" Seto was beginning to lose his patience with the boy. The boy just simply continued to cry harder. "I can't help you do what you can't do if you don't tell me what you're trying to do."

"My father says that I'm a curse because I'm too weak," he cried.

"So what are you trying to do?" asked Seto. Again the boy only sat there and cried. "Well then come on," said Seto as he grabbed the boys hand and pulled him up. "I'll help you do whatever you're trying to do." As soon as the boy was on his feet Seto let go of him, but the boy simply fell back to the ground. "What are you doing?" Seto asked again.

"I can't do it," cried the boy.

That's when Seto finally realized what the boy meant. When he had said that he was weak he didn't think he meant that he was that weak. "You can't walk can you?" he asked. The boy shook his head shamefully. "Alright then," said Seto. "I have something that I have to go do first, but after that I will help you learn to walk." He had no clue why he had decided to help this boy. He usually wasn't so nice to strangers, but the boy just seemed so pitiful and something about the boy drew him towards him. The boy's crimson eyes lit up happily as Seto reached down and pulled the boy up once more. This time he held the boy close to him and helped him walk as they both made their way towards the guard's training grounds. "My name is Seto," he said. "What is your name?"

"My name's Yugi," said the boy. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to practice with the royal guard," said Seto.

"Really?" asked Yugi. "That is so cool! I wish I could do that."

"You're too young," said Seto.

"I'm not much younger than you," said Yugi indignantly. His tears had practically all disappeared.

"How old are you then?"

"I'm 5," answered Yugi.

"I'm two years older than you," said Seto. "You're too young."

Yugi pouted, but said nothing more.

When they reached the grounds where the royal guard was practicing Seto found a nice shady area for Yugi to sit while he moved over to talk to the captain. "You're late today," said the captain with a smile.

"I ran into someone," he said in a monotone voice.

"Well if you want to join the royal guard you can never be late."

"I know that," said Seto.

"Here," said the captain as he handed Seto a wooden sword specially made for someone his size. He was a little tall for his age so he got one made for someone who was older than him. "You can go practice over there."

Before he could even move he heard a scream coming from the prince's room. He and the rest of the guards ran towards the room, but were stopped by some men dressed in dark cloaks. Seto tried to fight them along with the guards, but the captain through him back. "I want to fight," he yelled.

"No," growled the captain. "You'll only get in the way."

Seto was about to protest when he realized that he left Yugi all alone and unable to escape back where the guards practiced. He turned and quickly ran back the way he had come. He found Yugi trying to stand up where he had left him. He seemed very frightened being unable to run away while the people attacked.

As soon as he reached Yugi's side he pulled the boy up onto his feet and tried to pull him forward so that they could run away, but Yugi fell to the ground and Seto, habing tried to keep the boy up by holding him to his chest, fell with him. Yugi's fear seemed to grow even more as he realized that not even with Seto's help could he run away. He was just too weak to run.

Seto growled. He did not want to leave Yugi here to die, and if Yugi couldn't run then he would have to find a place for them to hide. He looked around for a good hiding spot, but the only place he could find was a large bush that sat next to a tree near where they sat. Quickly, he picked up Yugi as best he could and pulled the boy into the bushes. He hoped that he left no sign of where they were hiding as he pulled Yugi against his chest to muffle the crying, cover Yugi's unnatural hair as best he could, and comfort him all at the same time.

The two of them froze in their hiding place when two of the intruders stopped before them. "The prince wasn't in his room!" gasped one of them.

"What do you mean he wasn't in his room?" growled the other.

"He wasn't there," said the first one again.

"Well then go find him," hissed the first. Seto could only assume that he was the leader of these intruders. "We can't waste this chance. We have to kill the heir to the throne and then we can kill the pharaoh."

Seto held his breath. Now that he heard their plans there was no way they would let either him or Yugi go if they were spotted. Yugi sat frozen in front of him with his pale hands clenching Seto's filthy clothing so tightly that his knuckles were turning white. The only thing they could do was sit quietly and hope that they would go unnoticed.

That hope did not succeed. "What do we have here?" asked the leader as he pulled Yugi out of the bush and away from Seto by his hair.

* * *

><p>hey guys. this is my new story. i want you to read and review to tell me if you like it and think i should continue it or not. i also don't mind flames and constructive criticism. they can only make my work better. p.s. i don't own yugioh<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

As Yugi was ripped away from him Seto tried to catch him and pull him back, but this only allowed one of the other intruders to grab his arm and pull him out of the bushes as well. "Well if it isn't two slave boys," smirked the leader as soon as both of them were in sight. Seto stood up to face them as soon as he was let out of their grip while Yugi fell to the ground whimpering in pain and fear. "What do you think we should do with them?" asked the leader.

"Maybe we can sell them," said one of the subordinates. "A lot of people like little kids, and pale skin is very rare."

"That is true," said the leader as he looked over the two of them. Everyone seemed to be more interested in Yugi's small form than they were in Seto's tan body.

"I would rather die," growled Seto.

"Oh you are a feisty one," said the leader. "What about you?" he asked as he turned to face Yugi.

Seto turned to look at Yugi as well only to see that the child was so frightened that he couldn't even cry. He scowled. What a great time for Yugi to freeze on him. Didn't Yugi realize that this was a dire situation and that if he didn't answer it could mean that he would be sold to some lowly sex fiend. Because there was no way that anyone would sell him to someone looking for workers as he wasn't strong enough to do anything besides sit there and look pretty. "Stand up for yourself," growled Seto. He didn't know what brought him to say that to the frightened child, but whatever it was worked in his favor as a miracle occurred.

Yugi sat shocked for a short moment at Seto's cruel command, no one besides his father had ever dared to command him to do anything, but then as the words sunk in they gave him strength. He stood up without any help, walked forward two firm steps so that he was standing beside Seto, and yelled as loud as he could. "I will never be a slave because I am the prince of Egypt."

Everyone laughed at Yugi's declaration of his position except for Seto. He just stood staring skeptically at the ignorant fool that now stood beside him. When he said for the child to stand up for himself he had definitely not meant for him to declare that he was the prince of Egypt. Even if he was the prince, who would be so idiotic that they would declare that to the people who had just said that they were going to kill said prince and his father.

"Yea right kid," said the leader, "and I'm a god."

Before anyone else could say anything else, Seto heard one of the guards yell, "They're over here!" and they were surrounded by the several men ready to fight off the intruders.

Seto grabbed Yugi's hand and pulled him away from the fight so that the two of them wouldn't be trampled or wounded. What shocked him was that, while they were getting out of the way, Yugi did not stumble or fall at all as Seto had expected him to. Yugi didn't even seem to notice the miracle that was happening. His eyes were transfixed solely on the fight that was happening not too far away from the two of them.

"Oh my prince!" came one of the slaves cries, which brought Seto's mind out of his thoughts. Yugi turned to look at them and promptly fell back down to the ground as if his legs could no longer hold him. "Are you okay my prince?" asked one of the several caretakers when they reached Yugi's side, shoving Seto out of the way to get there, and each one of them touched him to make sure that he was uninjured.

"Those cruel men didn't hurt you did they?" another asked.

They continued to bombard him with questions without even allowing him to answer. Yugi seemed so confused because he was unable to follow any of the questions that his caretakers were asking him. Seto, on the other hand, was shocked. Yugi was actually who he said he was. He wasn't just saying that in front of the intruders. Then everything sank in. Not only had he talked to the prince of Egypt, but he had also touched the boy. He, a lowly slave, had touched Yugi, the prince of Egypt.

"We must go see the pharaoh," one of the caretakers finally said as she picked up Yugi so that she could carry him to the throne room. "He is very worried about you." That's when Seto found out the true reason why Yugi was having such a hard time learning how to walk. The caretakers coddled him so much that they probably barely gave him any chances to fall, which meant that he wouldn't be able to walk on his own. They were actually stopping him from strengthening his body by trying to protect him.

Seto was about to turn to go back to his room to ponder thoughts about all that had happened in the last few hours when he heard something that shocked him. "Can Seto come?" asked Yugi.

"Seto?" one of the caretakers asked with a disgusted face. Oh yes, even the slaves of the great prince of Egypt knew who he was. 'Son of a whore,' is what they all called him. Not that his mother had any choice in the matter. They just decided that she was one because how could such a noble man do such a disgusting thing as rape a woman unless he was first provoked by her. "I don't think so my prince."

"But he saved my life," said Yugi. There it was. The words that they dreaded to hear because now they would have to thank Seto for saving the prince and take him to go see the pharaoh who they thought he was unworthy of seeing.

"Alright my prince," sighed one of the caretakers. "He may come with us."

Seto fell into step behind the caretakers being careful to remain out of their sight, but in Yugi's line of view just in case he looked back, which he did constantly, to make sure he was still following.

* * *

><p>When they arrived at the throne room Seto saw the pharaoh pacing in front of his chair with all his advisors watching him with worry in their eyes.<p>

"Here they are my lord," said one of the advisers.

The pharaoh turned to face them quickly. The relief speedily entered his eyes when he saw his son held in the arms of the caretakers. Quickly, he rushed forward and took Yugi from the caretaker's arms and held him in as tight a hug as he was willing to give to his weak son. "Are you okay my son?" he asked frantically.

"Yes father," said Yugi as he returned the hug with his own skinny arms.

"I am so relieved," cried the pharaoh. "Thank you for saving him," he said to the caretakers.

They frowned at him. They didn't want to take the credit of saving the prince when they did not deserve it, but they also didn't want to give the credit to Seto. They didn't think they deserved anything. Even if he did save the prince.

"They didn't save me father," said Yugi. "It was Seto that helped me escape."

"Seto?" said the king as he looked down at the servant boy who still stood behind Yugi's caretakers. He slowly moved forward with Yugi still in his arms and, just as he was standing right in front of Seto, reached his hand out.

For a moment Seto thought that the man was getting ready to slap him for touching his only son, but instead the pharaoh placed his hand on top of his head with a thankful smile on his face. In that moment Seto felt like the world could end and he would be happy because someone was actually thankful that he existed and did something for them, but he remained calm and gave the pharaoh a short nod to show that he had understood the gesture just as the pharaoh would understand his.

The pharaoh took his hand back to his side as he saw the captain of the royal guard walk in. the captain nodded to tell his pharaoh that the intruders were either in custody or dead. The pharaoh simply nodded back. "Now my son," said the pharaoh as he turned to return back to his throne. "I have come to the realization that you need someone to protect. There will probably be several other attempts to get a hold of you and I cannot allow my only son to be taken away from me by such cruel people. Is there anyone in the royal guard whom you would be willing to let protect you?"

"I want Seto," answered Yugi.

"Seto?" laughed the pharaoh. "But he's not even in the royal guard."

"He told me he was practicing with them," said Yugi.

"Did he?" asked the pharaoh.

"Yes sir," answered the captain as he stepped forward slightly so that he could be heard better. "Seto has been training with us for some time, but he is nowhere near strong enough to protect Yugi from any future intruders."

"I see," said the pharaoh.

"But I want Seto," said Yugi.

"How about we do this," answered the pharaoh. "Seto will stay by your side and he will become one of your royal guards, but I will assign you two others so that Seto can still train to be stronger so that he can be your guard."

"Ok," said Yugi happily. Seto was shocked. He had never expected to be allowed into the royal guard. He thought that he would just learn how to fight and then if ever he was need he could help out. It was an honor to be promised a position in the royal guard when he got older, but to be promised one by the side of the future pharaoh was simply shocking. He didn't know what to say. Luckily he didn't have to say anything as the captain spoke again.

"I have two great men that will surely be perfect for the job," he said.

"Who are they?" asked the pharaoh.

"You there," he said to a random servant that was passing him. "Go and find Joey and Tristan and bring them here."

The servant nodded and hurried off to find the two only to come back not ten minutes later with two men in tow. One had blonde hair and brown eyes while the other had a weird pointed hairdo of brown hair with a pair of darker brown eyes. They both wore the royal guards' uniform proudly, though the blonde one wore it a little messily, and they both had swords at their sides.

"These two men are two of the best of my newest recruits," said the captain. "My other men are too old to be able to stay with a child but I'm sure they will serve the prince well." Seto knew by the fact that they had just graduated that they had to be at least fifteen, but he thought they almost seemed to be too young to be in the royal guard. They seemed like they weren't taking the job seriously.

"Then they will be his new royal guards," said the pharaoh.

"Yes sir," said all three of the men in the royal guard.

* * *

><p>this is the second chapter. i hope you enjoy.<p> 


	3. Chapter 3

Yugi was knocked to the ground as his sword flew into the air. He was forced to roll to the side when the blade of his attacker came down upon him, but he turned in the opposite direction of his sword. Now his attacker stood between him and his sword. He had to think fast as he stood to face his attacker. Suddenly, he remembered the set of daggers that he kept in the small of his back. He dodged another attack by flipping backwards. In doing so he kicked his feet up so that his attacker would lose balance. By the time his attacker was able to regain his balance he had both his daggers out and ready to fight. He stood waiting for the attacker to attack again, but was surprised when another sword came from behind him and sat under his neck.

"You lose," said Joey as he put his sword back in its sheath. Tristan also removed his sword from Yugi's neck and placed it back in his sheath.

Yugi only sighed. He had learned to walk years ago with Seto's help and now the next hurtle he had to get through was the ability to fight. If he wanted to be the pharaoh he would have to be ready and able to lead his people into a battle. He couldn't do that if he couldn't even beat Joey at a sword fight. He had been challenging Joey every day for the last month and he still lost every match.

Yugi sunk to the ground as his legs began to give out on him. That day had been a very tiring day and fighting Joey was not making his exhaustion go away.

"You want another match?" asked Joey as he usually did after he beat Yugi. Yugi never excepted the fight. With his limitations he knew that he couldn't have very many matches in a day and he liked to challenge some of the other royal guards to matches as well.

"No he doesn't," said Seto as he walked into the garden to join them. He was only fifteen, but he was still almost a head taller than Joey and Tristan. He leaned down when he reached them and helped Yugi onto his feet. It was weird seeing them stand next to each other because, even though Yugi was only two years young than Seto, Yugi was half Seto's size. "Especially not if you are going to cheat when you fight against him."

"Come on man," said Joey. "I'm just trying to teach him how to fight in a real battle."

"You could have killed him," Seto referred to when Joey had brought his sword down on Yugi. Yugi had to wonder how much of the fight Seto had seen.

"He moved," said Joey.

"What if he hadn't?" growled Seto.

"Dude," Joey laughed. "You're taking this protecting the prince thing way too seriously."

"I'm making up for the fact that you two don't take your job seriously at all."

"There's nothing to protect him from," said Joey.

"There are plenty of things that we need to protect the prince from. I guess I should add you to the list as well."

"You go too far," said Joey. "I would never hurt Yugi."

"I am not so sure," said Seto.

"Seto," Yugi cut in before they could get into a full blown fight. "It's alright. He was just teaching me how to fight against an enemy."

"Fine," Seto growled.

Yugi smiled. "Why are you here Seto? Aren't you supposed to be in training?"

"I passed yesterday," answered Seto. "Now I can officially be your fully fledged guard and you won't have to deal with these hooligans anymore."

"Hey!" yelled Joey and Tristan both.

"You didn't tell me that you graduated," Yugi pouted. "I would have congratulated you."

"I assumed it was unimportant," answered Seto.

"That's not unimportant," said Yugi. "You're a royal guard now. You're my royal guard now. That's not unimportant."

"I see," Seto said quietly. "I apologize for not letting you know."

"Alright," said Yugi. "Congratulations on your graduation."

"I thank you my prince," Seto bowed politely.

* * *

><p>Yugi sat in his bed silently as night fell upon Egypt. The day's events had finally caught up to him and his weak body was screaming at him to go to sleep, but his mind remained entirely awake. He was too busy contemplating Seto's actions towards him as of late. He recently started calling Yugi the prince even though he told Seto that the title wasn't necessary. He was very protective of Yugi and he almost never left Yugi's side.<p>

"_It's almost as though," _Yugi thought to himself, _"he loves me." _The thought made him blush madly. _"No. That's not possible," _he shook his head. _"Seto could never love a weakling like me."_

"My prince," said Seto as he walked into the room.

"Y-yes?" Yugi stuttered as the blush on his face grew from the embarrassment of his earlier thoughts.

"Are you sick?" Seto asked noticing Yugi's red cheeks. Before Yugi could answer Seto sat in front of him and placed his forehead against Yugi's to check his temperature. Yugi's blush grew even more. "You don't seem to be too sick," said Seto thoughtfully. "Still, you should probably get some rest just in case."

He stood to leave, but stopped when Yugi suddenly said, "Wait!"

"Is there something wrong my prince?" asked Seto.

"I just…" Yugi stopped for a moment. He didn't really have anything he wanted to say. He just wanted Seto to stay a little longer. "I was just wondering why you came in here."

"I was simply checking up on you," said Seto. "That is my job now."

Yugi deflated slightly at those words, but he refused to let Seto see how much he affected him. "I see," he answered with a forced smiled. "Good night Seto."

"Good night my prince," answered Seto as he left the room.

Yugi sighed softly. His mind went through his thoughts once more as he allowed himself to lie down in his comfortable bed. All the things that Seto had done recently was all because of his job. He didn't and would never love Yugi. It was only Yugi's love-sick mind playing tricks on him. Yugi finally allowed his eyes to shut to make way for what he knew would be a fitful night of sleep.

* * *

><p>"Wake up!" yelled Seto as he shook his Yugi awake.<p>

"What's the matter?" asked Yugi groggily.

"We're being attacked," whispered Seto who was wearing a cloak around his body that hid his form. "We have to get you somewhere safe."

Yugi was fully awake when he heard those words. "Where are we going?"

"Somewhere safe," was Seto's only answer.

"Where are Joey and Tristan?" Yugi asked as he placed his daggers at the small of his back and placed his sword at his hip. Seto wrapped another cloak around Yugi so that he was unrecognizable as the prince.

"They are delaying the attackers so that we can escape," Seto said as he grabbed Yugi's hand to pull him out of the room through the garden. "We must go now."

The garden was on fire. Several trees were releasing smoke into the air and the once beautiful garden was being reduced to ash. It made Yugi sad to see how easily life could be destroyed, but he had no time to feel that way so he continued to follow Seto. They ran towards the secret gateway that would lead them out of the palace and into the city where they might be able to find relative safety.

Unfortunately, before they could make it there one of the attackers got in their way. Seto cut him down easily, but he was replaced by several others who surrounded them. "We were ordered not to let anyone escape," one of them smirked. "That includes you two."

"You can't keep us here," growled Seto as he readied himself for a fight. This wasn't good. They were surrounded and there was no way he could defend Yugi from all of them at once. Their only hope would be if Yugi fought as well, but he didn't want to take the chance of him being killed by the attackers.

Yugi pulled out his own sword and held it before him stiffly. He had never been in a true fight and it was a lot more frightening then he thought it would be.

"Oh," laughed the attacker, "and you're going to stop us?" Seto growled at the man angrily. He had to admit that even with Yugi fighting the odds were against them, but he had to at least try to get them out of there. "Kill them," ordered the attacker as he left the group to enter the palace.

The men attacked and Seto fought them with every breath. He was determined not to let them kill him or his prince. He was determined and if he had to kill them all to make sure his prince was safe he would do so.

Suddenly, he heard a yelp and he looked over to see that Yugi was holding his right arm which hung limp beside him with his sword at his feet. There were three men fight against Yugi and Seto knew that he could take them out easily, but the five men who were fighting him were allowing him little leeway to make it over the young prince. He cursed himself. His job was to protect the prince and yet he couldn't do that.

Yugi backed away from the men until his back hit the wall that separated the palace from the city. He couldn't run away anymore. He looked over to see Seto dealing with his own problems and suddenly he felt bad. Had he really been expecting Seto to just come and save him no matter what? He wasn't a child anymore. He couldn't believe such childish thoughts. The three men advanced with smirks on their face.

"This one's cute," said one of them.

"You know the boss never said that we couldn't have fun with him before we kill him," said another.

"I agree," smirked the last.

Yugi's eyes widened. He knew what they were talking about and for some reason that scared him more than death did. He tried to back up even more, but the wall prevented his escaping.

Seto heard the words as clearly as if they were spoken right next to him. It angered him that they could even think about doing that to his prince and the fact that they were actually getting ready to do it made him break out in a fit of rage. He had to save Yugi no matter what. He doubled his efforts to get passed the five men he was fighting, but they were being too difficult.

Yugi tried to escape by running to the side, but he was too late for that as one of the men grabbed his injured arm making him yelp and pulled him back to pin him against the wall. All three of them smirked at him.

"Yugi!" yelled Seto as he saw the men get even closer to them.

Yugi was too afraid to think rationally. He ripped one of his daggers of their hiding place with his left hand, scratching his back in the process, and began to frantically swing it at the attackers. He could feel their blood splashing onto him, but he couldn't stop until he felt someone catch his hand to stop him.

* * *

><p>here's another chapter. i hope you enjoy<p> 


	4. Chapter 4

Seto watched helplessly as Yugi ripped out his dagger with a horrifying scream of terror and began slashing at the men who had been advancing on him. He growled. He had to save Yugi even if it was from his own fear. He threw all caution to the wind and allowed the men he was fighting to injure him so that he could kill them. He had a few close calls, but in the end he didn't get any serious injuries.

He turned to help Yugi fight off his attackers only to see the frightened Yugi swinging blindly at nothing with blood covering his body and three dead men at his feet. He couldn't allow this to go on. He approached Yugi cautiously being wary of the dagger that was still being swung frantically between them. He sighed as he realized that he wouldn't be able to get to Yugi without being injured, but an injury would be a small price to pay to help Yugi.

He stepped forward and felt a cut form on his chest before he was able to catch Yugi's hand and pulled him away from the dead bodies and into a tight embrace. Yugi struggled against him. "Yugi," he whispered comfortingly. "It's me. It's Seto. They're gone. There's nothing to be afraid of. There's nothing to be afraid of."

Yugi slowly calmed down until he was leaning into Seto's embrace. "I was so scared," cried Yugi.

"I know Yugi," said Seto as he petted Yugi's hair, "but we must go." He hated to do this. He hated to take Yugi away without even letting him get over his own fears. He hated it but it had to be done.

Seto took Yugi's hand and pulled him out of the palace garden and into the city.

* * *

><p>Seto ran through the city with Yugi in his arms after the prince had collapsed from the shock and loss of blood. He knew the man hadn't fainted because his eyes were still wide open, but it almost scared him even more that he wasn't asleep. It almost made him think that Yugi was dead and he just hadn't noticed it, but every time he looked down he could see the prince's small breaths.<p>

He ran until finally he came upon an inn to stay at. Making sure that no one was following him, he slipped into the room. There was a woman behind a counter cleaning wine glasses that looked up and said calmly, "I'm sorry. We're closed. You'll have to come back some other time."

"Please," Seto begged. He hated to beg, but he didn't have time to be turned away now. He had to bandage both of their wounds and try to get Yugi out of the shock that he was stuck in. "Please. I need a room for us to stay in. I'll pay you whatever you want."

"Oh my gosh!" gasped the inn-keeper when she saw how bad a state the two of them were in. "Of course. Come with me. I have some bandages too if you'd like them."

"Yes please," sighed Seto. The woman seemed like a nice person. He had heard from some of the other slaves that the inn-keepers in the city could be really cruel and would turn away even the injured.

"Hon," she called down the hallway behind the counter as she hurried to show Seto to the room that he and Yugi would be staying in up the stairs. "Get the bandages hon."

Seto heard someone rustle through some things before running footsteps were heard coming up the stairs as he placed Yugi on the only bed in the room. He tensed. He had no way of knowing if the attackers had followed them or not because he couldn't see very well in the dark alleys that he had been taking.

However, the person who had run up the stairs was a man that Seto had never seen before who was carrying a large roll of bandages. "What is it?" he asked frantically as he made sure that his wife was uninjured. "What's going on?"

She took the bandages from him and went to try and help Seto get himself bandaged, but Seto took the bandages from her as politely as he could and began bandaging Yugi's wounds. "Your wounds are more severe," said the woman. "Surely you should bandage your own wounds first."

"He is more important," answered Seto. He finished Yugi's bandaging very quickly, as the boy had very little severe wounds, and tried to bandage his own wounds, but as the anxiety from the battle wore off he suddenly realized how nauseous he felt. The bandages dropped from his hands and he had to catch a piece of the bed's frame so that he would not fall over.

The woman picked up the bandages and made Seto sit down in a chair that the man had brought over and began to wrap his wounds. "If he truly is more important," said the woman. "Then you should take care of yourself just as much as you take care of him because you are the one who cares for him enough to put him before yourself even if you're about to die."

Seto was shocked. How could she know about his feelings for Yugi? Was he really that easy to read? "Someone can replace me," he said without thinking. That was one of the thoughts that had always run through his head. Sometimes it gave him comfort to think that someone could replace him and protect Yugi if he died. At other times the thought made him fear that if he ever messed up someone would replace him by Yugi's side even if he didn't die. That's why he was so determined to do everything as he was told even if it meant concealing his own feelings.

"You don't want that to happen do you?" she asked. Seto shook his head silently. He didn't know why he was opening up to these people with even the secret that he would never be able to tell Yugi, but it felt good to finally let the weight off of his shoulders. "Then take care of yourself and you'll never be replaced."

"He must be a good kid if you want to protect him so badly," said the man. "It's very rare that you see that type of devotion in these parts." Seto suddenly realized what the man meant. They were in a worse part of the city where robbers and murderers ran rampant. He hadn't even realized that he had run that far from the castle.

"You know," said the woman. "You can take off your cloaks."

"I'd rather not," said Seto.

"Are you hiding from someone?" she asked. Seto nodded.

"Well if anyone comes in looking for you we will tell them that you aren't here," said the man.

"Don't go out of your way," said Seto.

"Nonsense sweetheart," said the woman. "My husband and I will make sure that no one comes up here. You two need to get your sleep anyway."

They left the room and Seto immediately moved his chair so that he would be sitting next to Yugi. He still hadn't moved and it was really scaring Seto. He had no training for this kind of situation. He didn't know what to do when his prince was in shock. He sighed. He could at least try something. He moved to sit on the bed and pulled Yugi into his lap to try and calm him. He rubbed circles on the boy's back and whispered sweet-nothings in his ear. Finally, Yugi's eyes drifted closed and he fell asleep.

* * *

><p>Yugi awoke the next morning to find Seto sitting near the window and looking outside of it. "Didn't you sleep at all?" he asked.<p>

"I did," Seto answered as he stood and bowed in front of Yugi. "Did you sleep well my prince."

Yugi looked away. The whole night he had been having nightmares about the night before. He had dreamed of all the things that happened and all the things that could have happened. He didn't even notice when Seto walked over until the man was standing just beside him. "It's okay my prince," he said. "I will never let you get hurt like that again."

Yugi nodded. "I trust you," he said. There was a short silence between the two until Yugi decided to change the subject. "Are we going to go back there."

"No my prince," said Seto as he walked back over to the window to look outside once more. "We must stay hidden for a little while longer."

"We can't stay in this room for the whole time," said Yugi.

"Someone will recognize you," Seto said.

"My father has gone to great lengths to keep my identity a secret," said Yugi. "He doesn't want anyone trying to hurt me while I'm still getting my strength. That's why none of the attackers have recognized me so far."

"They might still recognize your clothes."

"Then we just have to change," said Yugi.

"And how do you propose we do that."

Yugi simply took out a bag of gold that he had placed around his waist before they had fled the palace. "We just have to buy some."

"Fine," Seto sighed, "but you have to stay close to me while we shop."

"Agreed," Yugi smiled.

The two of them walked downstairs quietly to find the inn-keepers setting up for the new day. "Oh!" she said happily. "You two are awake!"

"Yes," said Yugi.

"It's good to see you are feeling better," she smiled.

"Thank you," Yugi smiled back at her.

"We need to find a place to buy new clothes," Seto said suddenly.

"Oh," she said. "I know just the place." She told them the way to go and then simply ushered them out the door so she could continue opening up her inn.

* * *

><p>Yay for the new chapter. hope you enjoy.<p> 


	5. Chapter 5

Yugi walked through the shopping center in his new clothes with Seto trailing after him. The clothes were a little uncomfortable, but Yugi would never tell Seto that. The whole time they had been in the store Seto had been looking for the most comfortable thing he could find and if he knew that Yugi still wasn't comfortable he would probably go back and find something else. The poor shop owner was already furious with them.

"Hey Seto?" said Yugi.

"Yes," asked Seto. Yugi could tell that he actually stopped himself from calling him the prince.

"I was thinking that if we want to stay in that inn we should probably get a job to pay for it," Yugi said.

"I will be sure to find a job then," said Seto.

"I want to help," said Yugi. He knew he wouldn't be able to do much, but he also didn't want to make Seto earn all of their money for however long they had to stay in hiding.

"We'll see," Seto said. That meant no, but Yugi knew that there was no way that Seto would actually ever say no to him directly.

"I just don't want you to have to do all the work," said Yugi.

"That's my job," answered Seto.

"Your job is to protect me," said Yugi. "You aren't my servant. You don't have to do anything like that for me."

"I will protect you," said Seto.

"I know you will," Yugi smiled.

* * *

><p>When they arrived back at the inn it was to find a completely full diner area and the woman struggling to take care of all of the people there.<p>

"Welcome back," she smiled at them as she passed by to go to the back room where her husband was working in the kitchen. It was very rare to see an inn that was also a bar, but this place seemed to be excelling at it.

"You seem to be very busy," said Yugi.

"Oh yes I am," she laughed.

"Don't you have any helpers?" Yugi asked as he looked around for someone.

"Oh yes I do," she answered, "but they have come down with something and are unable to help me."

"Why don't we help you instead?" Yugi asked while ignoring the look that Seto gave him.

"Oh that would be great!" she sighed.

"Yugi can't do anything too tasking," said Seto. Yugi couldn't explain, but he felt a great sense of happiness flood into him when he heard Seto say his name for the first time in such a long time.

"I'll be fine Seto," Yugi said, "and I'll be sure not to overexert myself."

Seto seemed to be uncertain about agreeing to allow Yugi to work, but he also knew that he could not contradict the prince at all so he just nodded reluctantly.

"That's great," the woman said quickly as she had to get back to her customers. "Put on these clothes aprons and help me serve all of these tables."

* * *

><p>Yugi had to admit that the little amount of work that he had done was actually very tasking on his weak body. He hadn't even done anything that hard. He had just been taking care of the customers and taking their orders, as Seto wouldn't let him carry the food because he thought it would be too heavy for his weak arms to carry, but he still felt very tired at the end of the day.<p>

There had been one moment later on in the day when a drunk man had tried to kiss him. Seto had kicked the man out immediately without the permission from the woman who owned the inn. Luckily, she let the man off with a warning by saying that she had always hated that man when he was drunk.

"Thank you guys so much for all of your help today," she said happily as he helped her clean up the kitchen while Seto and her husband c.

"We were happy to help you," Yugi said back.

"And I'm really sorry about that one man," she said.

"It's fine," Yugi smiled. "Seto won't let anything happen to me."

"He is very protective of you," said the woman. "Would you mind if I asked why?"

"It's complicated," Yugi sighed.

The woman laid her hand over Yugi's and gave him a comforting smile. "Don't worry," she said. "I'm sure it will all turn out well."

Yugi forced a smile, but he didn't truly believe her. There was no way that it would turn out the way he wanted it to because there was no way that Seto could love him the way he loved Seto. He couldn't even tell Seto about how he felt because he knew that if he said anything and Seto didn't feel the same way then Seto wouldn't be able to leave him because it was his job. Yugi would never do that to Seto.

* * *

><p>"I saw you kick that drunkard out," said the man who owned the inn.<p>

"He touched Yugi inappropriately," Seto said.

"I saw that too," laughed the man. "What I meant to say was that I saw _how_ you kicked him out."

"I don't know what you mean," said Seto.

"Don't you think you were a little rough with him?" asked the man.

"He touched Yugi inappropriately," Seto repeated.

"I saw that," the man laughed, "but you were still a little too rough on him for it to have been just because he touched you friend inappropriately."

"Yugi isn't just my friend," Seto muttered.

"My wife said that was probably the case," the man smiled. "Are you two together?"

"No."

"But you want to be?"

Seto didn't answer. It was true that he wanted more from their relationship, but he knew that calling Yugi his friend was already pushing his luck.

"My wife always says that following your heart is the only way to live your life," said the man, "and I find that she is completely correct."

"Sometimes it is impossible to follow your heart," Seto said quietly. He definitely knew that he could never follow his own heart. It would be insubordinate for him to confess his feelings to Yugi. The only thing that he could hope for was that Yugi wouldn't get tired of him and that he would be allowed to remain by the boy's side as his main guardian.

* * *

><p>Yugi yawned when he entered the room that he and Seto were living in for the time being. Seto was still helping the innkeepers clean up so he was in the room all to himself. It almost felt lonely sitting in this room by himself. Usually Seto only left him alone when he was getting dressed or when he was sleeping.<p>

He lay down on the bed and allowed his eyes to close. He didn't know that doing so much manual work would lead to such exhaustion, but he was so proud of himself for being able to do as much as he had done. His birth defect wasn't as limiting as he had originally thought it would be. He was beginning to believe that he would actually be able to rule Egypt when he grew older. He was beginning to believe that, with Seto by his side, he would make a good Pharaoh and he would make his father proud of him.

Seto walked into the room soon after Yugi and saw him resting on the bed. He could tell the boy wasn't sleeping because he could see the beautiful amber eyes that he loved so much. "Are you tired my pharaoh?" he asked.

"Yes," Yugi answered truthfully. He wouldn't dare to lie to Seto because he always seemed to know when Yugi was lying.

"Don't push yourself too hard," said Seto.

"I won't," Yugi promised.

"You shouldn't even being working at a place like this."

"I won't stop," Yugi said sternly. "This work will help me grow stronger. I just know it."

Seto gave a small smile at Yugi's determination. He would never get in the way of his happiness and if that meant that he had to allow the boy to work then he would allow him to work. "I understand," he said. "Just be careful."

"I will," Yugi nodded.

"You should get some sleep," Seto said.

Yugi nodded and pulled himself under the thin blanket. "You should get some sleep too," he said.


	6. Chapter 6

Yugi and Seto had been working in the cabin for a week. Yugi didn't know what they were waiting for, but Seto kept saying that it wasn't safe and he trusted the Seto knew what he was doing. Seto also always made sure to stay by Yugi's side even if they were safe inside their room at night. Yugi was starting to worry that Seto seemed to be too cautious.

They were walking through the market and Seto was beginning to worry him even more. He was looking behind them every five minutes and he kept one hand over where Yugi knew he hid a dagger. "Seto?" he asked cautiously.

Seto seemed to tense when Yugi spoke. He hadn't realized that Yugi had seen his actions. He cursed himself. He didn't want Yugi to be worried. He was trying his hardest to keep Yugi from being scared. "It's nothing Yugi," he said as he forced himself to relax.

"Are you sure?" Yugi asked cautiously.

"Yes Yugi."

Yugi nodded as they came upon the cabin. If Seto said that it was nothing to worry about than Yugi wouldn't worry. Though, that was only short lived as two people shoved them inside the inn as they were walking in and locked the door so that no one could get in or out.

Seto immediately took his sword out and positioned himself between Yugi and the two attackers. "What do you want?" he growled.

"Whoa, whoa," said one of the attackers as he lifted his hands to show that he was not going to attack. In doing so he also revealed his royal guard uniform. "It's just us." He took off his hood to reveal Joey's face and the other attacker took off his hood to reveal Tristan.

"Joey!" Yugi said with delight as Seto put his sword away slowly, "Tristan! What are you guys doing here?"

"We're looking for you of course," said Joey. "You were actually rather hard to find. Seto's apparently been doing a good job of keeping you guys' identities a secret."

"How is it looking with the pharaoh?" asked Seto.

Joey immediately lost his happy mood. "Unfortunately, he was seriously injured in the battle. We don't know if he's going to make it."

Yugi gasped. He hadn't known that his father had been in so much danger. If he had known he would have demanded that Seto take him home immediately. Now that he knew there was no way that he was going to be kept here. He had to go home now. Without even telling his guards he went up to gather his things from the room that they had been staying in for all this time.

Seto watched Yugi leave with a look of concern on his face. He hadn't meant to keep Yugi away from his father. He had only wanted to keep Yugi safe. He sighed and looked back at the two guards as the innkeeper and her husband walked into the room.

"What is going on here?" gasped the woman. "Why are palace guards here?"

"I'm afraid we must leave now," said Seto, "but we thank you for the hospitality that you have provided to us."

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"To the palace where we belong," answered Seto.

"The palace?" the woman gasped. "You guys work in the palace?"

Seto only nodded as Yugi came down carrying all of their stuff. He was still dressed in the rags that they had bought, but now he also wore the head piece that marked him as the prince. He also wore the cloak that he had come to the inn wearing so that he could cover himself when they went onto the streets. Seto immediately took the bags from him and Yugi would have protested if he hadn't been in so much of a hurry to get to his father.

"I thank you for your hospitality while we stayed here," Yugi said to the woman as he put his hood over his head and headed to the door, "but I'm afraid we must leave."

This time the woman only nodded as the four of them walked by her and her husband. She couldn't believe that she had had the prince staying in her inn this whole time. That he had actually been working for her as though he was nothing more than a commoner.

Seto was the last to leave, but before he stepped out of the building he turned to the innkeeper and her husband one last time to say, "The king has done everything in his power to keep the identity of his son a secret. I trust that you will not reveal who he is."

The woman only nodded again and then Seto was gone.

* * *

><p>Yugi ran straight to his father's chambers when he had heard the news. He hadn't even stopped at the gates when the guards had tried to stop him. Luckily, Joey and Tristan had been running ahead of him and had told the guards to allow him passage. The whole time he was running Seto remained at his side with a worried expression. He knew how it would affect Yugi if his father died and all of the stress that would be put on the boy, but the only thing he could do was pray to Ra that Yugi's father be spared from death for a little while longer.<p>

As they approached the chambers, Yugi noticed that one of the servants was outside of the room waiting for them to arrive. "How is he?" he asked the woman frantically.

"I'm afraid he isn't doing well my prince," she shook her head sadly. "They don't think that he will survive this time."

"But he has to!" Yugi yelled. "He can't just leave me."

"I'm sorry," the servant girl shook her head sadly. She quickly turned and left afterwards. She loved the royal family too much to be able to bare such sadness and loss within the family, and it was even worse when it was Yugi because he was just a weak child.

Yugi turned to the door and stared at it. He wanted to go in, but he was afraid of seeing his own father, the man that he had always thought was unbreakable, so damaged.

"My prince?" asked Seto.

Yugi sighed. "Have you ever felt the need to do something so badly that you rush to do it, but then when it actually comes time to do it, you're afraid to even try?"

"I have," Seto nodded, "but, in my experience, it's those times that you choose not to do what you had wanted to do that you will regret for the rest of your lives."

Yugi put his hand on the door as if to open it, but he did not apply pressure. "I just can't do it," he said as tears began to roll down his face.

"Then let me help you," Seto said as he stepped forward and opened the door himself.

The door gave way to a beautiful grand bedroom where a large bed sat in the middle with a sick king inside of it. "Father!" Yugi gasped as he ran to the side of the bed.

"My son," the pharaoh wheezed. "Come here." He padded the bed next to him and Yugi crawled up to be closer to him. The pharaoh placed his weak hands upon Yugi's cheek and smiled. "I'm so glad you're okay," he said.

"Seto's been taking care of me," Yugi said as he tried to smile. It turned out looking very fake so he just let it slide off of his face without a second thought.

"I'm glad," said the pharaoh. There was a moment of silence before he spoke again. "I'm going to die."

Yugi gasped at the words that his father had just spoken. The severity of the situation suddenly hit him with full force, but even in the face of his father's imminent death, he still wouldn't give up hope that he might survive. "The nurses are going to fix you right up father," he said hopefully.

"No my son," the pharaoh shook his head. "I am going to die and you will have to take my place as the king of Egypt."

"I can't," Yugi cried. "I'm not strong enough to be pharaoh. I can't do it without you."

"Strength doesn't only come from physical abilities," said the pharaoh. "It comes from…." The statement was left unfinished as the pharaoh's lifeless hand fell from Yugi's cheek.

Yugi's tears fell even faster as he looked at the motionless body of his father. He had just lost his one and only beloved father. He had just lost the only other family member he had ever known. He was alone.

Yugi dashed out of the room without even thinking about Seto or if the man would follow him. He actually hoped Seto wouldn't, because this moment was one of the only times that he wanted to be alone. He wanted to mourn his loss in loneliness.

Seto followed close behind Yugi.

* * *

><p>They were somewhere in the gardens when Yugi finally collapsed from both physical and mental exhaustion. Seto didn't even give the boy a moment to himself before he pulled him into a comforting hug.<p>

"Leave me alone," Yugi sobbed as he tried a week attempt to escape from Seto's strong arms.

"You can cry on me," Seto answered. He knew how Yugi felt at the moment. He remembered how he had felt when his mother had died. He too, had wanted to be alone, but he had also felt that he wished that someone would come to comfort him just so that he wouldn't feel so alone. So that he wouldn't feel like no one cared for him anymore. He wouldn't let Yugi feel that way no matter what.

Yugi buried his face into Seto's chest and said. "Pharaoh's shouldn't cry."

"But a boy who just lost the only family that he's ever known should cry. At this very moment you are not the pharaoh. You are just a boy that needs to cry."

Yugi nodded and the two of them sat there for the rest of the night as Yugi sobbed and Seto tried his best to keep Yugi at least somewhat calm.

* * *

><p>i hope you enjoyed this new chapter<p> 


	7. Chapter 7

Yugi sat solemnly in his father's chair, the chair of the pharaoh, and his new chair as he watched the servants ready the great hall for the party that would take place after the ceremony that appointed him as the king. He still didn't believe that his weak body would be able to serve his kingdom as his father had done, but he knew that in the absence of a king his land would perish. He sighed for the 18th time as he looked over the large hall. It looked so big compared to his small form. Even the chair that he sat in was much too big for him. When his father had sat in the very same chair, he had fit perfectly within its two armrests, but Yugi was so small that he could only put one arm up at a time to be sitting comfortably. He hated being so small and weak.

"Is there something troubling you my pharaoh?" asked Seto who stood next to him.

Yugi sighed again. He had been hoping that Seto would start calling him Yugi after they returned from the inn, but instead he had immediately started referring to him as the pharaoh. That didn't help Yugi at all since it reminded him that his father was dead every time Seto talked to him, but he was never able to ask Seto to stop because he knew that the man was just doing his job. "I don't think I'm ready for this," he said just loud enough that only Seto would be able to hear him.

"You have to be," said Seto.

That was right. Yugi had to be ready for the sake of his kingdom. He could no longer be the weak little prince that he once was. He had to be a strong pharaoh. The only problem was that he could not get his feeble body to become strong. No matter how hard he tried to will his body to get stronger, it always failed him. He hated it. If he had a body like Seto, then he would be able to be a great and powerful king, but he had a weak body and therefore he would be a weak pharaoh.

Seto watched Yugi carefully as he had been doing ever since he was young and as he watched he began to feel bad about what he had just said. It only seemed to make Yugi even more upset, but the words had to be said whether Yugi liked them or not. He wished that he could console Yugi like he once had when they were young, but he knew now that he should never treat the pharaoh so familiarly as he once had. He learned his lesson thoroughly when one of the nobles whipped him for treating Yugi as a friend. He had never told Yugi about it, but he still held the scars on his back.

"My pharaoh," said one of the advisers as he bowed before him. "It is time for you to get ready for the ceremony.

Yugi nodded quietly. He had wanted to get out of this big hall anyway. He just wanted to go back to his room even if it was only to get ready for the ceremony. He stood slowly and began to walk towards his room. When he looked behind him to see if Seto was following he found not only Seto, but also several other royal guards, many servants, and the advisors following him. It was strange and he didn't like having so many people following him around, but he supposed he would have to get used to it if he was going to be their pharaoh.

* * *

><p>The whole walk to Yugi's room, Seto could see how uncomfortable all the people were making the boy so, when they finally got there and Yugi was already inside, Seto turned to all the servants and said, "You all can wait out here."<p>

"But we have to help the pharaoh prepare himself for the ceremony," said one of the advisors.

"You can do that after he is dressed in his ceremonial outfit," Seto answered.

"Then the servants must go in to help him change," said another advisor.

"I will help him change," said Seto. "You all need to go and finish the preparations in the great hall for the party."

The servants and advisors stood shocked as Seto walked into the room before they finally allowed themselves to get over it. They would have gone into the room to help the pharaoh, but it was disrespectful for them to enter the pharaoh's chambers without being invited in so they simply turned and left.

"Thank you Seto," said Yugi after he heard all of the people outside his room leave except for a couple of the guards who stayed behind to protect him. That amount of people he was okay with because he had always had a small amount of people around him, but he never liked to be surrounded by big groups of people like he had been only a few moments ago.

"I only do as my pharaoh wishes," said Seto.

"I thank you anyway," sighed Yugi. He just wanted Seto to accept something that he said without turning it around and praising him with it. Sometimes he wished they were young again so that he would Seto would treat him like a friend again, but he knew that was a fruitless and selfish wish that he would never speak out loud.

* * *

><p>It took longer than Yugi had expected to get changed into his ceremonial outfit, and the amount of gold that he wore was way heavier than he would have thought after seeing it on his father. He could barely walk right with all of the extra weight on top of him, but luckily most of the ceremony consisted of him sitting down and the rest he would have Seto with him to help him.<p>

Right now he was participating in the first part of the ceremony. He was being carried in a golden box with four men carrying him. The cushion that he sat on was comfortable and the curtains that created three walls around him were see through enough that he could still see the people that stood on either side of the road as he was carried through. He tried his hardest to wave to wave to the people in front of him, but his golden clad hands were too heavy and his muscles soon grew too tired to continue so he just smiled and waved every now and again.

Seto remained in front of Yugi the whole time as he watched the crowd carefully. The ceremony was the best time for assassins to try and attack the pharaoh and he knew that Yugi would be no exception. If anything, there would be more people attacking the pharaoh this time around because he was so weak and none of them knew him because he had been kept from their sight all of his life. He promised himself that he would keep a close watch and he would not allow anyone to try to harm the young pharaoh.

As Seto watched, a man caught his eye. The man was wearing a dark cloak and was trying hard to remain unnoticed. He seemed to be ruffling inside of his jacket for something and Seto immediately moved into action. He didn't want to create an uproar so he just silently walked into the crowd and grabbed the man to pull him away, but when he yanked down the man's hood to see who would dare try to hurt Yugi his heart stopped. The man was smiling and that meant that he had not failed. Seto couldn't believe himself. How could he be so stupid as to not realize that this man was only a distraction to get him away from the pharaoh? He handed the man to another guard who had followed him and ran back into the crowd. Yugi was already too far away for him to get to before anything happened so instead he yelled. "Yugi get down!" He didn't even notice his slip of the tongue. The only thing he saw was a man jumping out of the crowd with a sword in hand ready to cut Yugi's head off.

The men, who were unable to carry the weight of both the pharaoh and another man dropped the box to the floor and the poles holding up the curtains snapped to cover both Yugi and the attacker. Seto ran as fast as he could to the box as some of the other guards and servants tried to get the curtains off, but other attackers joined in the fight and they were unable to move the curtains as they began to be stained with blood. Seto's heart stopped when he saw the blood. He needed to get to Yugi and fast, but the attackers just kept getting in his way.

When all of the attackers were subdued and they were finally able to remove the curtains, Yugi was nowhere to be seen. The only thing that was there was the attacker who looked like he fell on his own sword when the men dropped the box. So where was Yugi? Seto searched around frantically looking for the pharaoh. "Where is the pharaoh?" his booming voice yelled over all of the frantic voices of the crowd. Everyone stopped moving and Seto was able to see the only two people who were still moving amongst the crowd. He quickly jumped on the taller of the man and wrestled him to the ground while Yugi broke free of his grip and stood away from the man so that he couldn't catch hold of him again.

"Are you okay my pharaoh?" asked Seto when one of the other guards approached them and took his place on top of the attacker.

"I am fine," Yugi said. He was a little shaken, but he couldn't show that to his people. He had to seem strong even if he wasn't.

"What happened?" asked one of the advisers as Yugi made his way out of the crowd and back to the royal servants.

"I heard Seto tell me to get down so I moved out of the way of the attacker, but then the men dropped the box and I couldn't stop myself from rolling into the crowd. From there another attacker got hold of me and was trying to take me away when Seto caught him," answered Yugi.

"We must cut this part of the ceremony short," said the adviser.

"No!" gasped Yugi. He didn't want to seem weak by cutting the ceremony short after he had been attacked. He wanted his people to trust him even if he didn't trust himself. "I am fine. I can continue."

"We no longer have anything to carry you on," said Seto.

Yugi stopped at that. He hadn't thought about that and he knew that he couldn't walk the streets with all of the heavy items that he was wearing. He would collapse within half an hour.

"Excuse me sir," said one of the servants.

The adviser was just about to admonish the boy, but Yugi stopped him by saying, "What do you need?" very politely.

"We thought that we should bring with us one of the royal horses," said the boy. "You can ride on that."

"Are you mad?" asked the adviser. "The pharaoh can't ride on a horse during this ceremony."

"Thank you," said Yugi as he completely ignored what the adviser said. "Bring it to me and I will ride it for the rest of the walk of my city." The boy smiled and scurried off while some of the villagers cheered. They now knew that they had a kind pharaoh who loved them all and that was enough to make them happy.

"My dear pharaoh," said the adviser. "You cannot ride a horse during this ceremony. It just isn't done."

"I will ride a horse," said Yugi, "and I will finish the ceremony on top of a horse. I will not hear anymore of you trying to stop me."

Seto was actually proud of Yugi. He knew that Yugi thought that he would not make a good pharaoh, but he had already proven to him and some of the city that he was going to be one of the greatest pharaohs Egypt had ever seen without even trying to.

On top of the horse, Yugi looked even more regal than he had in the large box that had made him look so small. He looked like a king, and Seto was happy be able to see the boy in such a beautiful way. He almost didn't even notice as the servant boy who had brought Yugi a horse brought one to his side as well. "The pharaoh asked that I bring a horse for you to ride on too," said the boy.

Seto nodded and quickly mounted the horse to follow Yugi through the city. Yugi seemed truly happy to be able to see all of the people that he passed without it being distorted by the curtains and Seto couldn't help but allow a small smile to spread across his face at Yugi's happiness before he wiped it away and returned to looking at the crowd to make sure there was no more attempts on Yugi's life.


	8. Chapter 8

By the time they returned to the palace Yugi was very tired. Even though he hadn't been doing anything truly physically taxing, the combination of the heat and the stress of becoming the new pharaoh was already getting to him and the day was only half done. He still had to present himself to his people and then he had to stay for the whole night as the party went on and the people try to entertain him.

Yugi sighed as he looked at the balcony that he was going to have to walk out on to present himself to everyone. He was supposed to stand tall and be regal in front of them, but at the moment he felt that he wouldn't even be able to stand at all. All of his advisors were looking at him expectantly and it almost seemed to put more weight on his shoulders. What if he failed them and all of his people? What if he collapsed right in front of him and they thought he was too weak and stopped trusting him? What if he really was too weak? He didn't know what to do. He just wanted to run away and hide until all of this passed.

"You'll be fine," Seto leaned down and whispered in his ear, "and I'll be there to catch you if you fall."

Yugi smiled. Seto always knew exactly what to say to him in these times. By just saying those simply things Seto had managed to give him the courage and the strength to march right out onto the balcony like a true pharaoh should and smile at his people. Then, when he returned into the palace, his advisors beamed at him proudly and he felt so proud of himself. He looked over at Seto only to see that he too was giving him a proud smile albeit a lot less noticeable than the other people in the palace.

"My prince," asked one of the advisors as Yugi made his way to the large seat that was now his throne. "Shall we start the celebration?"

"Of course," Yugi smiled politely. "I would love that."

The advisor bowed and turned to all the people waiting in the palace as Yugi sat down with Seto standing right next to him. "Begin the celebrations," he commanded them. Immediately there were several dancers on the floor and men were watching their movements while smiling.

Yugi finally began to relax as he sat in his throne. With all the people there the hall didn't look so big and he didn't feel so small inside of it. Seto's presence also comforted him greatly. He actually wanted this moment to freeze in time so that he could always fell this way, but instead his moment was cut short within an instant.

The only thing that he saw was Seto's long cape being thrown in front of him to block a poisoned needle that would have hit him otherwise. There was several screams and the guards quickly made their way up to the assassin's hiding place to pull him down to face the pharaoh. Yugi would have stood to face the man if he hadn't been so shocked that his legs became weak.

"Why did you try to kill the pharaoh?" growled Seto as he stepped forward slightly so that he would be able to stop the man if he somehow got free and tried to kill Yugi again.

"The pharaoh, ha!" said the assassin. "That is little more than a child. My master will beat you down and then he will be the pharaoh as is he should rightfully be."

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Yugi.

"The forces of my master are going to destroy you and then he will be the ruler of Egypt," said the man.

"When is he coming?" asked Yugi.

"My master will come soon," said the man, "and you will die."

"Throw him in the dungeon," growled Seto, "and get as much information out of him as you can."

"My pharaoh," said one of the advisors. "You need to mobilize the army. It is best to meet whoever this man is out in the desert with the city behind us. That way the cities will not be destroyed and we will have the advantage with the supplies so nearby."

"But we also need to protect the city just in case the attackers find a way to get through," Yugi said.

"Allow me to lead half of the army out into the desert," Seto said suddenly as he kneeled before Yugi.

"What?" gasped Yugi. He had never been without Seto and just the thought of being without the man made him feel so much weaker. Seto was his rock and the man who gave him strength. Seto was the man he trusted most and the only man that he would trust to lead his armies out into battle. He was clearly the only choice that Yugi had and yet he didn't want to use him.

"Allow me to lead half of the army into battle," Seto repeated.

"But you are only a guard," said the advisors. "You know nothing about the battle field. You-"

"Are the only man I trust to do this," Yugi finished before the advisor could say anything else. It was hard for him to allow Seto to go into danger, but it was the only way. "Go and assemble the army so that we can prepare for battle." Seto bowed and immediately rushed off to assemble the army.

"Are you sure this is the right choice sir?" asked the advisors.

"Yes," Yugi answered confidently. He knew that Seto would never let him down.

* * *

><p>"Promise me that you'll be careful," said Yugi as Seto prepared himself for battle.<p>

"Whatever my pharaoh desires," said Seto.

"No," said Yugi. "Promise me that you'll be careful."

"I promise," Seto sighed. He hadn't wanted to say anything like that because he knew that he would probably not be careful if it meant that he would be able to protect his kingdom and his beloved Yugi.

"I will be waiting for you to return," said Yugi.

"My pharaoh has duties that he has to take care of," said Seto. "He should not wait for a lowly slave such as myself."

"What did I do wrong?" asked Yugi.

The question got Seto by surprise. He didn't know what Yugi was referring to, but he knew it must be truly important because the words had sounded so despaired. "My pharaoh has never done anything wrong," he answered.

"Then why do you keeping calling me pharaoh?" asked Yugi. "Why won't you call me Yugi like you used to."

"Because a lowly son of a whore has no business being familiar with the prince of Egypt." Seto hadn't meant to say those words. They had just been burned into his mind when he had been whipped and then they had just spilled out.

Yugi slapped him on the arm and he probably would have slapped him on the face if he had been able to reach without it being awkward. It was a weak slap, but it still shocked Seto because it came from a man who had never lifted his hand against anyone. "Your mother was not a whore," Yugi said angrily. "She was raped by a bastard and you are not lowly. You are my friend and the only man that I can willingly trust with my life. I will not tolerate anyone saying differently. Even if that someone is you."

"I apologize," Seto said somewhat shocked. He had never seen Yugi so angry before. He didn't like the way the boyish features twisted into a scowl whenever Yugi was angry. It didn't suit the young pharaoh at all.

"I won't order you to call me by my name," Yugi said as he came down from his rare bout of anger, "but I do wish that you would acknowledge me as a friend just as I always have for you." With that Yugi walked out of the room without even allowing Seto to answer.

"I do acknowledge you as a friend," Seto said quietly, "Yugi." It was the first time in years that he felt so horrible for something that he had done, but now he couldn't help but feel bad. How had he not noticed how much Yugi was affected by his sudden change in actions towards the boy? How had he not known that the boy was suffering in thinking that he had lost his friend? How could he hurt the man that he loved without even noticing? He resolved that he would make it up to the boy. That is, if he survived the battle.


	9. Chapter 9

Weeks passed by and Yugi heard nothing about the battle that was happening just outside his borders. Each day his worry grew more and more for Seto and his people and each day the advisors would tell him that it was normal not to hear any news and that the battle was probably going well, but lately even they began to act very edgy. Yugi, however, knew that it was not normal for the pharaoh not to know what was going on in a battle because it was not normal for the pharaoh not to be fighting in the battle. Yugi knew he should be fighting, but he had no trust that his weak body would become anything more than a hindrance to his people.

Weeks passed and Yugi heard nothing about the battle until someone came running into the large hall that he sat and collapsed on the ground gasping for air. The main was injured and looked like he had been running at top speed for hours and as he looked up Yugi realized that whatever he had to say could not be good.

"My pharaoh," the man gasped out. "There were more men than we had expected. Our forces are losing." With that the man fainted.

"Take him to a room so he can rest," Yugi said as he stood. He commanded himself to be strong as he spoke to his men. Now was not the time for him to be doubting himself and now was the time that his people would need a strong king who would lead them out into war just as he should have for his first army. "Go through the city," he commanded. "Collect any able man who can fight and bring them to the castle. Run the blacksmiths nonstop. We need more weapons for the men. Pack food and medical supplies for us to take out to the army who is already fighting. Go now!"

"Yes sir!" his servants yelled as they scattered to do their intended jobs.

"You come with me," he said to his advisors as he left the large hall. He couldn't go into the fight blindly. He needed to make a plan. Luckily he had two advantages: the men that he was bringing into the battle now were not tired from fighting for so long and he was closer to his city so he could get more supplies if needed. However, he would also have a fatal weakness: his men were going to be people who probably had never even lifted a weapon bigger than a knife in their life and he had no time to train them. The only thing he could hope for was that the plan that he was going to use would work and that the man that he had out there would make up for the fact that they were so unskilled.

* * *

><p>"My people!" Yugi yelled above all of the men who were being outfitted to go into war. "I know that we are weak! I know that most of you have never even lifted a sword before! But I also know that if we work together we will be strong and we will be able to defeat our enemy! Fight with me and we will prevail!"<p>

"Yea!" yelled the men as they held up weapons and fists alike. They were ready to go to war for their beloved pharaoh even if they had to give up their lives in this battle.

Yugi felt bad as he looked down upon the people. He could see all of their determination, loyalty, and trust in him. He could see good men laughing jovially amongst themselves. He could even see as some of them spoke to their wives and kissed them goodbye. Yugi wondered for a moment if the innkeeper's husband would be in the group, but then he remembered that he demanded all able men be brought to him and he remembered the innkeeper's husband being very able. His heart stung as he looked down at them because he knew that many of them would not be coming back.

"How long until all of them are ready to go?" he asked one of his advisors as he continued to watch the people.

"They will be ready by nightfall," answered the advisor.

"All of them?" Yugi pressed.

"Yes sir," the advisor nodded.

"Then we shall set out in the morning," Yugi said determinedly.

"Are you sure that is wise?" asked the advisor.

"We must go as soon as possible," answered Yugi.

"That wasn't was I was talking about," sighed the advisor. Yugi gave him a confused look. He didn't know what else the man could have been talking about. "Are you sure it is wise for you to go out with them? You are too weak."

"I am too weak to lead my people into battle?" Yugi said quietly never looking away from his people. "If that is the case then they should not go at all. If that is the case then maybe we should allow our enemy to win. If that is the case then I have no right to even be called pharaoh. I will lead my people out onto the battlefield because I am the pharaoh."

"Yes sir," said the advisor as he bowed and left Yugi to be by himself.

Yugi sighed as he finally turned away from the men. Suddenly, the only thing that he could think about was his father. He wondered what his father would have done in this situation. He wondered how his father would command his people so that the least possible people would die. He wondered how his father would use the same tactic that he was planning. He even wondered if his father would have surrendered just so that his people wouldn't be killed.

Suddenly, the thought of surrender seemed a lot more appealing to Yugi. If he surrendered than his people would be spared and he would be the only one to be killed. It would be better for Egypt to be ridded of such a weak king. But as soon as the thoughts came to him he banished them. His father would only use surrender as a last resort and so would he.

"Go get me a runner," he said to a servant as she walked in.

"Yes sir," she said as she left only to came back with a runner in tow.

"Yes my pharaoh?" asked the runner.

"I need you to bring a message to Seto," said Yugi. "I need you to tell him that I will be bringing reinforcements. I need you to tell him that the forces need to hold out just a little longer while I make my way over there. Will you do this for me?"

"Of course my pharaoh," said the runner before he took off.

Yugi sighed. Being pharaoh was much different than he had ever expected it to be. It was exhausting and he was only in his first year. He began to feel exhausted and allowed himself to collapse into his comfortable bed. Hopefully, the job would become a lot easier when this battle was over, but before he could think of things like that he had to defeat his enemy.


	10. Chapter 10

Seto rubbed his eyes as he sat in his tent with the other captains that he was working with while they were trying to plan what they were going to do next. It was late and everyone was waiting for the sun to rise again to return to their battle. This had been going on for weeks and no matter what he did nothing seemed to be able to beat the enemy. He was failing Yugi and he knew it.

"Sir," said someone as they came into the tent.

"What is it?" he asked tiredly.

"I bring word from the pharaoh," said the runner.

"The pharaoh?" asked Seto confusedly.

"Yes," answered the messenger. "He has received the message that you have sent and has sent a response."

"I never sent any message," said Seto.

"I sent it," said one of the generals.

"Why?" growled Seto. There was a reason he hadn't sent a message to Yugi. He didn't want the young pharaoh to get involved in the battle. He didn't want the boy that he had been taking care of ever since they were kids to get hurt. He didn't want the man that he loved to die.

"We need more men," said the general. "We will not survive any longer without backup. And if we lose here then our enemy will make it to the city without the pharaoh having any knowledge of his movements."

Seto remained silent. He should have thought of all of those things, but his love for Yugi made him blind to the dangers that he was putting everyone, including Yugi, into. He should have known better.

"What does the pharaoh have to say?" asked the general.

"The pharaoh says that he will be bringing reinforcements and he asks that we hold out for a little longer so that he will have time to make it here," said the runner.

"Is he bringing the other half of the army?" asked the general.

"He has created an army out of the men that he has gathered from the village," answered the runner.

"Is the pharaoh coming personally?" asked Seto. That was his main concern and he could only hope that when the runner had said to wait for him to make it there he had meant the army.

"Yes sir," said the runner. "The pharaoh is going to be leading the army here personally."

"Damnit!" growled Seto. "He shouldn't be coming here. He's putting himself in danger by coming here. Doesn't he know that these people are after him anyway? He should just turn around and go back to the city where he belongs."

"But sir," said one of the generals. "We need his guidance in this war. Any other pharaoh would have already been out here commanding his army."

"Yugi is not like any other pharaoh," Seto said without even realizing his slip. "He is too young and too weak to be an asset to this battle. He needs to go back to the city."

"I'm glad to know how you really feel," Yugi's voice said behind him as he walked into the tent and everyone stood and bowed to give him respect. Seto was frozen he knew that Yugi could have only heard the very last part of his statement. He turned slowly to be faced with the saddest smile he had ever seen. It looked like Yugi was holding back tears even as they welled in his eyes. "But I'm afraid I won't be leaving. I have to stay and lead my army."

"I thought that you weren't supposed to be here until later," one of the generals said in the most respectful tone.

"The army will arrive sometime tomorrow," said Yugi. "I had Joey and Tristan lead them here while I rode on ahead so that I could see how we were doing."

"It's not good sir," the generals began to say. They explained everything that had happened so far and then they moved onto their plans. This was when Yugi began to speak. He was adamant that they were to remain in a defensive position and not allow anyone to get through their line even though the generals wanted to go into a full out attack. When they were done everyone was dismissed and Yugi slumped in the seat that he had taken. He was exhausted in both mind and body and he was concerned for all of the men that he would be sacrificing by using his plan. He knew he couldn't turn back now. The plan was already set in motion before his new army even left the city and now he would not be able to do anything to change it.

Seto moved forward with the full intention of talking to Yugi and apologizing to Yugi for what the boy had overheard, but when the boy looked up at him he snapped his mouth shut. Yugi looked so much older now than he did the last time Seto had seen him. He had bags under his eyes and his skin was much paler than it used to be. Even his beautiful amber eyes seemed to have dulled to a dirt brown color.

"You don't have to say anything," Yugi said. "I sort of knew that you thought I was weak from the very beginning. You were just as overprotective as all of my caretakers when I was young. You just showed it in different ways."

"That's not true," Seto said even though he knew that it was actually completely true. But he had good reasons for treating Yugi that way. It wasn't because he thought the boy was weak. He just wanted to protect the man that he loved.

"I know I'm weak Seto," Yugi sighed as he looked back down at the map the generals had used to show him the battlefield, "but I will win this war for Egypt."

"What if you die?" asked Seto. "What will Egypt do then. You are the only remaining member of the royal blood." Seto winced as he said this. That was another reason that he knew that he would never be able to be with Yugi.

"Please leave Seto," said Yugi.

"No!" growled Seto as he clenched his fists. "I won't leave until you give up this stupidness."

"Seto!" growled Yugi. "Leave this instant!"

Seto immediately turned to do as he was told because the pharaoh himself had ordered him. Something that Yugi had never done before. Yugi always made sure that he sounded fair and only asked for the things that he needed even from his servants, but just now he had demanded Seto to leave. He never thought it would hurt for Yugi to order him around, but as he left the tent his heart clench painfully in his chest.

Yugi watched Seto go sadly. He knew that he had just lost his closest friend. He probably should have known that this was coming for some time. To Seto he was nothing more than a weak boy playing at pharaoh. He put his face in his hands and allowed himself to cry. The real reason that he came ahead of the rest of his army was because he wanted to see Seto again, but when he had heard say those words it had torn his already exhausted mind apart. He had been trying so hard not to break down because he wanted to be strong for his men, but now that he was alone he couldn't hold back the onslaught of tear. Seto was right. He was nothing more than a weak child. He could never be a strong pharaoh like his father. He was probably leading all of his people to their deaths.

* * *

><p>At dawn the next morning the men all began to line up in their defensive positions waiting for the enemy to come down upon them, but no one came to face them. They waited for an hour in cautious silence and still no one came. Finally, when all of the men were starting to relax their positions thinking that maybe the enemy would not come again, a line of strong looking soldiers could be seen making their way across the desert to face them. Yugi had the sudden thought that they probably had some sort of village, abandoned or not, that they were staying at to keep themselves cool, but it looked like it was a long ways away and every time that his army retreated they had to walk farther and farther. He watched them carefully as they got closer. Many of the men looked tired and torn, but they all had determination in their eyes. Determination to win and make their leader the new pharaoh of Egypt. Yugi looked back at his men and all he could see was fear. Villagers and soldiers alike were already fearing the upcoming battle. They already feared their deaths.<p>

Yugi put his hand upon his own chest and felt his own heart beating rapidly against his ribcage. "I am afraid," he suddenly realized.

"What?" asked Seto who had only barely heard the muttered realization.

"I am afraid," Yugi repeated at the top of his lungs so that all of his men could hear him as he turned to face them. "I am afraid just like all of you. I am afraid to lose. I am afraid to die. I am afraid, but what will happen if we give up. Our women will surely suffer. Do you think that these men will simply allow the women to live peacefully? Do you think they won't rape and slaughter them? You can give up if you want to, but I will give my life for my city." All the men straightened where they stood. Determination filled their eyes as they remembered why they were here. "Those men may be strong, but they have nothing to fight for while we have a whole city of loved ones to fight for. We can defeat them."

"Yea!" yelled all the men as they lifted their weapons in agreement.

Yugi smiled at them all and turned back to the approaching enemy. They were close now. He watched them as they stopped in front of his army and a particularly strong man stepped forward with a smirk as he looked at Yugi's army as though they were nothing to him.

"I hear that the pharaoh has joined the battle," he said loudly. No one else said anything so he continued. "Oh come now. Can we not meat together? Perhaps we could come to some sort of peaceful agreement."

Seto growled and was about to say something when Yugi stepped forward. "Don't go to him," Seto pleaded.

"This line does not move no matter what happens," was Yugi's only response as he continued to the meet the man in the middle. Seto stared shocked at Yugi. He couldn't be serious. What if the man hurt him? Surely the men should protect their pharaoh, but he could not say anything to protest because Yugi was already too far away. He had no choice but to obey the orders that he was given.

"So this is the mighty pharaoh," the enemies' leader laughed loudly. "A little boy with barely any meat on his bones."

"I am the pharaoh of Egypt," Yugi proclaimed.

"Give up kid," said the leader.

"Never," Yugi answered.

"You know we will destroy your army."

"Never."

"And then we'll rape and kill all the women and children in the city."

"Never."

"If you give up we can come to some sort of agreement where I will allow your people to live as my slaves."

"Never."

The leader grit his teeth. This boy was annoying the hell out of him. His men was tired and he just wanted this battle to end so he could take his rightful place as the pharaoh, but Yugi just kept saying never. "Give up," he growled.

"Never," Yugi defiantly said once again. He knew that the man was lying. Even if he did give up, only a few of the stronger men and beautiful women would be kept as slave. The rest would be tortured and murdered. He would never allow that to happen.

"I will take over your kingdom," said the leader.

"Over my dead body," Yugi answered truthfully.

"I can manage that," the leader finally snapped as he slapped Yugi who fell to the ground. He pulled out his sword and readied it to be swung down at Yugi as he yelled, "Attack!" Chaos ensued as the enemy surged forward and surrounded Yugi and the leader when his sword came down upon Yugi.

* * *

><p>i know. i'm evil. but at least we are approaching the end<p> 


	11. Chapter 11

Seto watched Yugi fall to the ground and his body was immediately filled with both fear and anger. His first instinct was to go to Yugi, to protect the man that he loved, but even as he tried to run forward he felt two hands take a hold of his arms. "Let me go!" he growled as he lost sight of Yugi through the mass of bodies charging towards them.

"Yugi needs you here," said Joey as he yanked Seto back to his original positin in the second row. "You have to command his army. If you go to him then we will surely lose. Yugi wants us to win no matter what."

Seto nodded reluctantly. He had to obey the orders that his pharaoh gave to him. _"This line does not move no matter what happens." _That had been the pharaoh's command and Seto knew that Yugi would never forgive him for leaving the villagers there to die. He needed to stay with him. He needed to command them as he had been doing before the pharaoh had joined the battle. He needed to do as he was told and that is what he would do. "Shields!" he yelled and the first row crouched with their shields placed firmly in front of them. "Bow at the ready!" he commanded and all of the rows behind the second one took out there bows and aimed at the enemy. "Fire!" Arrows shot passed his head and into the bodies of the enemy. The people who were controlling the bows were definitely not very good at it, but because of the sheer amount of enemies that they were encountering no shot missed their target. "Fire at will!" shots continued to pass him as the enemy continued to get closer. "Weapons at the ready!" the whole first row held spears before them for the enemy to run into as the whole second row pulled out long swords. Seto pulled out his own long sword and readied himself to fight. Even through this all Seto never stopped looking for Yugi's crazy colored hair to pop up somewhere where he could see it and know that Yugi was safe, but he never saw Yugi and it was starting to really freak him out.

* * *

><p>Yugi pulled his sword out of its sheath and held it above his head just in time to block the attack that would have killed him otherwise. He could feel the army running past him and he could only pray to Ra that Seto would do as he was told and keep the line as his own enemy tried to force his sword down on him. Yugi was weak and he was tired so he had to find a way to get out of this situation before his arms gave out and he was beheaded. He kicked his legs out and was able to catch the enemy's knee. The enemy stumbled back just far enough that he could roll away.<p>

One of the other men tried to attack Yugi, but the leader threw him to the side yelling, "He's mine!"

"Why are you doing this?" asked Yugi.

"Don't you know who I am?" growled the enemy. Yugi shook his head. He didn't recognize this man at all. He didn't even remember seeing him in the village. He could have just missed him, but he highly doubted it because it would be hard to miss the silver hair. "My name is Bakura. I am the rightful heir to the throne."

"I am the heir," said Yugi.

"You stole my throne!" yelled Bakura as he attacked once again.

"I didn't do anything like that," answered Yugi as he did his best to block off every one of the attacks that Bakura threw.

"No!" growled Bakura. "You're father took over my land and took my throne from me. I deserve to be pharaoh!"

Yugi remembered his father telling him about a time just before he was born when someone attacked Egypt. His father had told him that the other people were trying to gain more land, but had wound up losing all of their own. The king of this land was exiled with all of his family to a land far away and it wasn't far before he had died. His father said that he had looked for the wife and the small baby, but had never been able to find them. Yugi could only assume that Bakura was the baby. "My father looked for you," he tried to tell Bakura. "When your father died he tried to look for you and he would have brought you back to the city."

"You think I care about that?" yelled Bakura. "I want my throne back. It is my right. I should be the pharaoh!"

"You will never be the pharaoh," said Yugi. "I will not allow you to take the throne from me. I will never let you rule Egypt."

Bakura let out a scream and threw a particularly strong attack at Yugi that he couldn't defend. Yugi was knocked to the ground again, but this time he wasn't able to get back up before Bakura threw another wild attack at him. He rolled over to the side only to have Bakura kick his head. Everything went blank.

* * *

><p><em>Yugi opened his eyes to find himself lying on top of some very green grass instead of on the sand that he had been only moments ago. The thought crossed his mind that perhaps he was dead, but he didn't remember getting any severe wounds. He sat up and looked around to see that he was actually in the garden that was just outside of his room. <em>

_Suddenly, Yugi heard a voice that he thought he would never hear again. "My son?" asked his father as he walked towards him._

_Yugi immediately began to cry. He couldn't control his tears as they cascaded down his face. He put his arms up to give his father a hug when the man had gotten close enough only to have the man pick him up. He didn't even notice that he was smaller now. "I can do it," he cried without his own mind's consent._

"_You can't do what my son?" asked the late pharaoh._

"_I will never be a strong pharaoh like you," he cried._

"_Oh my boy," the late pharaoh smiled. "I think you will be the strongest pharaoh that Egypt has ever seen."_

"_No," Yugi whined. "I'll never be strong. I'm just going to be weak all my life. I'll never be a good pharaoh."_

"_Strength doesn't only come from physical abilities my son," said his father. "It comes from love and protecting those who you love. Loving the village and protecting them no matter what happens to you will make you strong."_

"_Do you think I'll ever be strong?" Yugi sniffled._

"_I think that you already are," answered his father. "Now go back out there and protect the ones you love."_

_Yugi nodded his head determinedly as a bright light spilled into his eyes and he heard someone call his name._


	12. Chapter 12

"Yugi!" he could hear someone calling his name as he returned to his own body. It sounded a lot like Seto. His heart felt pain when he heard that single word flying from the man he love's mouth. It had been so long since he had heard Seto call his name and, now that he did, the name came with a tone of fear. Seto was afraid for him. He wanted to feel happy and he did feel happy, but his mind still couldn't get over the fact that Seto thought he was weak after all he had done to try to get stronger. Right now, that didn't matter. All that mattered was getting back to his people and helping them hold the line together with the strength that his father's words had given him.

Yugi rolled to the side just in time to avoid yet another attack. He jumped to his feet and held his own sword before him. Bakura wasn't there. Yugi looked around him at the blank desert. All of the enemy was fighting his men only a few feet away, but other than that there was nothing. He could not find Bakura anywhere. He couldn't afford to keep looking, though, he had to get back to his people.

He turned to run towards his men when he felt pain through his entire back. He screamed as he fell back to the ground and dropped his sword. The pain was excruciating. He heard Seto call his name again and it felt like it was so far off into the distance and yet he felt that he had to look for it. When he looked up he was met with the fearful eyes of Seto. The enemy had accidently allowed an opening where he could see Seto holding a shield against them. He was so far away. Yugi couldn't get to him.

"Die!" screamed Bakura as he tried to bring his sword down upon Yugi again.

Yugi rolled onto his back and pulled out his daggers to use from now on. His back burned with pain as the sand got into the deep cut, but he ignored it in favor of forcing Bakura away from him so that he could stand. He didn't allow his enemy any time to regain himself either. Delivering several injuries onto his enemy, Yugi fought with all his might and as quickly as he could. There was no way that he would allow this evil man to take over his kingdom. There was no way that he would abandon his people to this man's power. He loved them. He loved them all and he would never let anything happen to them as long as he lived.

"How can this be?" screamed Bakura as Yugi got in a particularly fatal shot. "You are weak! How can it be that you are able to fight so hard?"

"My weak body is more than enough to defeat you," Yugi panted, "because, unlike you, I love my people and I want to protect them more than myself.

There was a yell off into the distance as Yugi finally killed Bakura with a jab of his dagger into the man's throat. He looked up to see where it had come from to see the rest of his army coming to trap the enemy just as he had planned. He smiled. Now everything would be over. This war could finally end and all of his people could go home.

Yugi watched them grow closer until suddenly they weren't in his sight anymore. He was looking at the bright sky. Strangely, it seemed so much brighter than it had only moments ago. He smiled at the strange sky even as his mind and body felt numb. Everything was over. Everything was over. That thought ran through his mind and it was all he could think about as he allowed his eyes to close. Everything was over.

* * *

><p>"Yugi!" Seto screamed. He saw it. He saw his pharaoh, his friend, and the man that he loved get injured by his enemy. Even from this distance and with all of the men blocking his view, he could see the blood that flowed through the wound. It was deep. He wanted to go to Yugi, but if he tried than the line would be broken. He had to stay crouched against this shield with people fighting over him and a spear held before him while he watched Yugi fall to the ground.<p>

For one split moment a space cleared so that he could see Yugi clearly just as Yugi looked up at him. In that one moment Seto's mind came to a halt. He couldn't think of anything but the pain and the determination in Yugi's wide eyes and then he could no longer see Yugi. Some man had stepped in his way and Yugi had moved to stand.

It seemed like hours before he was able to see Yugi again. Only when a war cry was let out on the other side of the enemy and everyone turned to see the rest of Yugi's army rushing towards them. Only then was he able to see Yugi again and he gasped at what he saw. There was blood all over Yugi's back. He was amazed the man was even still standing until Yugi collapsed onto the ground. He couldn't help himself as he jumped up from his position in the line to go to Yugi. It didn't really matter anyway since the leader was already dead by Yugi's hand and if any of the men still wanted to fight than they would be trapped between the two halves of Yugi's army.

Seto fell to his knees just beside Yugi as the army rushed past him and pulled him onto his lap. He didn't care that he was getting blood all over himself. All's he cared about was making sure that Yugi was okay. "Come on Yugi," he begged. "Wake up." But Yugi didn't not even move when Seto tried to shake him. Seto's heart stopped when the thought that Yugi could actually be dead crossed his mind, but he could see Yugi's stomach rise and fall slightly as he took slow breaths.

Two shadows fell upon them and Seto looked up to see Joey and Tristan standing there. "Get me bandages," he said urgently, "and a horse. Quickly!" They both ran off and Seto turned his attentions back to Yugi. He had to stop the bleeding if Yugi was going to have any hope of surviving. "Don't die on my Yugi," he whispered. "Don't die on me please. I love you too much to lose you."

Joey was the first to return with the bandages and Seto immediately took them from him as he spoke. "I need to take Yugi to the healers in the city," he said. "You and Tristan will lead the army and the prisoners back as soon as you are ready." Joey nodded obediently as Tristan appeared with a horse.

"This is the fastest horse we have," said Tristan. "It's the one that Yugi rode here." Seto nodded and the three of them helped him get the unconscious pharaoh up onto the horse.

"Take care of him," Joey said. Seto nodded once before he forced the horse into a quick run.

"Do you think that he'll be okay?" asked Tristan as they watched the horse run.

"I think he'll be fine," answered Joey.

"Why?" asked Tristan.

"Cause," Joey answered with a crooked smile, "Seto called him by his name."

"Oh," Tristan nodded as he too smiled. They both knew that Seto loved Yugi, I mean it was kind of obvious with the way he was so overprotective of the boy, and they had been waiting for the man to finally confess. Now they just had to hope that Yugi really would be okay and this could all be over.

"Come on man," Joey swung his arm around Tristan's neck. "Let's get this over with so we can finally go home." Tristan nodded and the two of them moved to command their army to start cleaning up quickly.


	13. Chapter 13

Weeks passed and Yugi remained unconscious. The wound that he had got infected and then he got a fever. He was alive, but just barely.

During this whole time, Seto never left his side. He made sure that he would be there whenever Yugi woke up. He didn't even sleep unless he was at the edge of exhaustion. Even then he would simply fall asleep in the chair next to Yugi for a few hours and then would startle awake and go back to watching his pharaoh.

Weeks passed until finally Yugi woke up. It was on a day like any other when Seto was falling asleep when he heard the groan emanate from Yugi's throat. At first he thought it might be a trick of his mind, but when it happened again he realized that he actually had heard it. He stood quickly, knocking over his chair as he went, and leaned over Yugi as the boy slowly opened his amber eyes.

"Seto?" asked Yugi.

"Yes," Seto nodded as he stroked Yugi's face with his own rough hands. He didn't even try to hold back his tears as a smile spread across his face. "Yes I am here."

"Why are you crying?" Yugi asked.

Seto allowed his head to fall onto Yugi's chest softly as the tears continued to fall. "I'm so happy your okay."

Yugi wrapped his small arms around Seto and started to draw circles in his back to try to calm him. "Everything is going to be okay now," Yugi said softly.

Seto nodded slowly without lifting his head from Yugi's chest. They stayed like that for a long moment before Seto finally allowed himself to look back at Yugi's face. "Yugi?" he asked.

"Yes?" asked Yugi as a smile spread across his face. He hadn't heard his name from Seto's lips in so long that the simple word spread a happiness through him that he couldn't quite explain.

"I-" Seto started, but he wasn't able to finish. The words I love you got stuck in his throat so much so that he felt that he might not be able to breathe. He had to find some way to tell Yugi even if he couldn't say it in words. He leaned forward until his face was just before Yugi's and then he hesitated. Yugi was looking at him with confused eyes, but he didn't look like he was disgusted by the closeness of Seto's body. Seto threw aside everything that made him fear confessing to his pharaoh and kissed the boy slowly.

Yugi gasped when Seto's lips touched his own and Seto pulled away thinking that he had done something wrong. He started to get up, but Yugi's arms stiffened around him. "Don't go," he said. He pulled Seto down and kissed him again.

"I'm not going anywhere," Seto smiled when they broke apart for air. "I'll never go anywhere."

* * *

><p>The end. I hope you all enjoyed this story.<p> 


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